Mark slowly stroked Zilu’s back while she buried her face further into his neck, as if she wanted to stay there forever.

But the silence inside the tent didn’t last long, as faint footsteps were heard.

"Huh?"

Mark heard the footsteps getting closer and closer, and Zilu heard them too, her ears shot straight up and her body tensed against Mark’s.

"Master...?" Zilu whispered without lifting her face from his neck.

"Shh," Mark said, placing one of his fingers on her lips.

The footsteps finally stopped right at the tent entrance.

"Good morning, Master!" Aria’s voice came from outside in her cheerful tone. "Sorry to bother you so early, but I heard a strange noise a little while ago and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Mark and Zilu stayed silent, hoping Aria would decide to leave when she got no answer, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.

"Master? Are you awake?" Aria insisted. "I’m going to open it, okay?"

Mark was about to tell her not to come in but it was already too late, the tent flap opened and Aria stuck her head inside with a smile.

And seeing them, Aria’s smile only lasted half a second before fading as she noticed Zilu was completely naked and hugging her Master.

"..."

"..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Aria shouted, pointing at Zilu.

Zilu lifted her head from Mark’s neck and slowly turned toward Aria, her face completely flushed.

"H-hi, Miss Aria..." Zilu said with a smile so forced her lips were trembling. "I-I think I went into the wrong tent... hehe."

"YOU WENT INTO THE WRONG TENT?!" Aria repeated, her eyes practically popping out of her head.

"I-I was half asleep and—"

"THERE ARE TWO TENTS, ZILU! TWO! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY GET IT WRONG?!"

Zilu couldn’t find an answer for that.

After Aria’s shouts it was only a matter of seconds before more footsteps were heard rushing toward them.

"My lord, are you alright?!" Alice’s voice came from outside as her footsteps skidded to a stop beside the entrance.

"What happened?!" Ely’s voice came right behind, agitated. "Aria, why are you shouting?! Where’s the Master?!"

Aria stepped aside and pointed toward the inside of the tent with an expression of indignation.

"See for yourself."

Ely stuck her head in and her reaction was immediate.

"ZILU!" Ely said, raising her voice. "DIDN’T I EXPLAIN THE SCHEDULE TO YOU?!"

"I-I didn’t know the schedule was already acti—!"

"I EXPLAINED IT ON THE GROUND WITH LITTLE DRAWINGS AND EVERYTHING!"

Alice peered in from the other side.

Her expression at seeing the scene shifted from concern to something Mark could only describe as a visible internal conflict.

"Zilu, even I, who want nothing more than to jump on my lord and never let go, try to respect the rules..." Alice said in a voice struggling to maintain composure.

"Exactly!" Ely said, turning toward Zilu. "There are rules! And the first rule is that head wives have priority!"

"The second is that you check the schedule before anything else!" Aria added, raising a finger.

Hearing the others scold her all at once, Zilu buried her face back in Mark’s neck, with only her ears and the top of her head visible, like a rabbit trying to crawl into its burrow.

Seeing all three of them come down on Zilu at the same time, Mark decided to step in.

"Hey," Mark said in a firm tone. "It wasn’t her fault."

All three looked at him fixedly.

"I’m the one who called her."

And hearing Mark’s words, everyone went silent.

Ely, Aria, and Alice’s expressions shifted simultaneously and the indignation vanished as if it had never existed.

"Oh..." Ely said, blinking. "It was you, Master?"

"Yes."

"Then there’s no problem at all," Ely said with a smile.

"None whatsoever!" Aria confirmed, nodding at the same speed. "In fact, you should have told us so we could have joined you."

"Don’t hesitate to call us next time too, my lord," Alice added, lowering her gaze slightly with embarrassment.

Seeing their reactions Mark could only let out a sigh.

’Incredible... the difference between a crisis and total acceptance is whether I started it.’

Then calm footsteps were heard approaching from further away.

"Would someone mind explaining why there’s so much noise at this hour?" Rose said, walking toward them and looking inside the tent.

"..."

"...Can I join?" she asked with a wide smile.

"Rose!" Ely and Aria said at the same time.

"Just asking," Rose said with a shrug.

And with that Mark let himself fall back to look at the tent ceiling.

’Looks like this day is going to be a very eventful one...’ he thought, closing his eyes again.

After that, things moved quickly.

Ely was the first to act, walking in and pulling Zilu off Mark with one hand while picking up her clothes from the floor with the other.

"Come on, up," Ely said, pulling Zilu firmly but not roughly. "You need a bath before we head out."

"I-I can bathe myself—" Zilu tried to refuse, without success.

"No, you can’t," Aria cut in, appearing on the other side and grabbing her by the arm. "We’ll come with you."

"B-but—!"

"No buts," Ely said.

And between the two of them they took her out of the tent.

Alice followed close behind with a towel she had produced from who knows where, and Rose walked behind everyone with a smile that suggested she was there more for the entertainment than to help.

When Mark finally had the tent to himself he didn’t take long to let out a sigh before starting to get dressed.

He put his clothes on without hurrying, fastening his robe while his mind went over the things they had to do that day.

Getting out of the Great Forest was the priority. According to Sarah’s map they shouldn’t have much road left before reaching the plains on the other side, maybe half a day’s walk if they kept a good pace.

When he finished getting dressed he ran his hands through his hair to make it minimally presentable and stepped out of the tent.

Mark walked a couple of steps and then heard voices to his right.

Ely was standing beside the small tent with Zilu in front of her.

Zilu was already dressed, her hair damp from the bath, and her ears were at that half-raised position.

"...So it’s not that I have a problem with you having sex with the Master," Ely was saying in a reasonable tone. "That’s fine, in fact it’s normal."

Zilu was looking at her without saying anything.

"But what I do need is for you to tell me beforehand," Ely continued, raising a finger. "So I can add you to the register."

"Th-the register?" Zilu repeated. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"The schedule," Ely clarified. "If I don’t add you, then your turn doesn’t get recorded and afterward there are mix-ups about who goes when, and that can cause unnecessary fights."

"F-fights?"

"Ugly fights, Zilu, trust me."

Zilu was about to ask if they had already fought among themselves before, but then Mark spoke up.

"Alright, girls, time to move out," Mark said, raising his voice to get their attention.

Everyone turned their heads toward him.

Zilu nodded quickly, apparently relieved the conversation with Ely had been interrupted.

"Understood, Master!" Ely and Aria said with energy.

"As you command, my lord," Alice followed.

"Whenever you’re ready, Master," Rose continued.

And with that the group resumed their journey through the Great Forest.